- Chelsea defeated Manchester United 3-1 and advanced to the FA Cup finals.
- All three goals came following the Red Devils’ mistakes.
- They will meet Arsenal in the finals.
United’s Mistakes Hand Chelsea a Win
Even though the Blues seemed better on the pitch, we can’t guarantee that they would advance to the finals without the gifts received from the rivals.
“We won the game by putting them under pressure with good pressing, and after we scored the second goal we dictated the game,” said Olivier Giroud, when describing his view of the match.
All three goals the Blues scored were direct consequences of the mistakes committed by United’s defenders. It was, without a doubt, the worst performance of the Red Devils since the restart of football in England.
However, we need to stress out that United had a massive setback during the first half, when Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly had a serious collision that saw the latter leaving the pitch.
It was his replacement, Victor Lindelof, who didn’t communicate very well with the goalkeeper David de Gea at one point, allowing Olivier Giroud to use that misunderstanding and give Chelsea a lead in the 11th minute of the injury time in the first half.
As always, these types of late goals hurt the morale of those who concede it, which was probably the case here. But an even greater misfortune struck the Red Devils in the first minute of the second half.
De Gea’s reaction after Mason Mount’s shot was catastrophic, and the Spaniard’s mistake doubled the lead for the Blues.
“David knows he should save that one 100 times out of 100, but that’s football for you,” said United’s coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. “It is done. Move on. I know he is a mentally strong person and goalkeeper.”
The nightmare for Manchester continued with Harry Maguire netting an own goal in the 74th minute, to seal the match, and secure Chelsea’s appearance in the finals.
One shiny moment for the Red Devils was five minutes before the end, once they scored. It was a penalty well executed by Bruno Fernandes. Previously, Anthony Martial attacked Chelsea’s goal, and was brought down in the box.
Arsenal Awaits the Blues in the Finals
The North-West London derby would decide the next winner of the FA Cup. Arsenal previously trashed Manchester City to reach the finals, with Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scoring both goals ina 2-0 victory.
Since 2017, this will be the third time that these two sides decide about a trophy. Three summers ago they played in the FA Cup finals, with the Gunners taking the silverware on that occasion.
Last year, the Europa League finals in Baku saw the teams from London coming after one another. The Blues smashed Arsenal with 4-1, winning their sixth continental trophy. What is the curiosity in this situation, is that the above-mentioned Giroud played in both games, the first time for Arsenal and the second for Chelsea. So far he has four FA Cup titles
